New Amsterdam: Striking a Balance Between Noble Intentions and Viewer Fatigue

When I started watching New Amsterdam, it was a good surprise among all the medical shows on TV. It was slightly different and good entertainment. Yet, in Season 3, it feels a little too much.

Sure, most shows tend to become repetitive after a few seasons, but here, that's not exactly the issue.

A Sweet but Unbelievable Character

New Amsterdam's Dr. Max Goodwin is shown as the megalomaniac boss with a heart of gold. He has decided to solve all the world's problems, but usually things go sideways. Initially endearing, his actions eventually affect the show's credibility. Who in the real world would act like this, brushing aside practicality and realism?

As the character takes bigger and bigger challenges as banners, the balance between a relatable protagonist and an idealistic savior is lost.

Every Issue Becomes a Crisis

New Amsterdam doesn't shy away from addressing moral dilemmas, but the sheer volume of dramatic situations can be overwhelming.

Every episode seems to present a new moral issue. Then, the characters engage in exhaustive overthinking, which makes it hard to connect with. While addressing important societal topics is a plus, the show risks losing its audience due to the relentless stream of moral challenges, leaving little room for viewers to breathe.

A Never-Ending Cycle of Unrealistic Chaos

New Amsterdam is the constant barrage of apocalyptic-scale disasters within the hospital. From pandemic scares to catastrophic accidents, chaos is everywhere. It feels more like a Hollywood blockbuster than a portrayal of a realistic healthcare environment.

The lack of more minor, more believable challenges undermines the show. Yes, real-life hospitals face numerous challenges, but the exaggerated scale of disasters in New Amsterdam goes way too far.

Balancing Drama and Realism

While New Amsterdam initially captivates with its noble intentions and compelling characters, the show's tendency to veer into melodramatic and unrealistic scenarios makes it tiring to watch.

Striking a balance between engaging storytelling and maintaining a sense of authenticity has been a challenge.

Comments

Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes

This is not the sort of show which I usually talk about on this blog. However, as a psychologist, I’m usually quite curious in regards to criminals and their minds; and one of these days I started watching this documentary on Netflix . Taking into consideration the kind of thing this is, I can’t say I ‘liked’ it. I mean what you see in there is nothing to like, but I was rather terrified, which is probably the usual response. Nonetheless, it was definitely a good documentary. The eyes of a killer Everything displayed in this story was terrible. The descriptions, Bundy’s posture, everything seemed like some sort of horror show, putting into perspective what we may consider to be lucky or unlucky in this life. Before I even start watching it, I read somewhere that this was the kind of thing you shouldn’t watch alone. Sounds accurate right now. At the time, and considering my, mostly academic, experience, I didn’t think that this could actually be so upsetting.

The Mist (2017) - quick review

A thick mist falls up a town, and something about it isn’t right - good premise. We would expect nothing less than good from a Stephen King’s book. Yet, as we all know, book adaptations can be quite disappointing. It goes from good to terrible. I loved the plot and, in the beginning, I was very curious and interested - it was almost impossible to stop watching it. Yet, at some point, it started to get on my nerves, and not in the way that a good horror show should. As we got closer to the end of the season, many things stopped making sense. Some characters are simply… not believable. The explanations for whatever was happening were ridiculous and easily refutable. It all took away the feeling of “this could be real”. It killed my interest. Many changes were made to the original novel. Some of them were interesting and made the story better, yet others were… well, nonsense. Cast and production As I said before, the first episodes were good and made us want to keep watching, but I was

Show Review: Emily in Paris

It took me a long time to give Emily in Paris a shot because I thought it would be a silly, shallow comedy about some sort of influencer. Well, it is a silly, shallow comedy about some sort of influencer, but to be honest, I liked it. Emily is a young talent in a marketing career and has the opportunity of her life: working in Paris for a year! And since her boyfriend is an idiot, she can try the full experience of being a single woman in the city of love. Unfortunately, she is not as good at managing her personal life as she is at work. In fact, she is frankly terrible at making decisions outside work. Cultural Differences Everyone who has been in a foreign country knows that sometimes we get ourselves into awkward situations due to cultural differences. So watching someone else go through the same is quite funny. I must admit that seeing an American trying to speak French is hilarious. Of course, I’m not French (and French people who hear me trying to speak French could have a s

All Forms of Art

Search This Blog